Torio



0. A. PlSTQRIO. FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1.9]8.

1,321,828. Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I WITNESSES lNvEN'roR a, 0%

D. A. PISTORIO.

FUSE- APPLICATION min JULY 20. 19l8.

132L328. Patented Nov. 11, 1919. f u

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES INYENTOR (INHED s'rarns Parana orrion DOMINGO A. r sronro, or WASHINGTON, ms'rmc'r or COLUMBIA.

FUSE.

To all whom it maycmwern:

Be it known that I, DOMINGO A. Pis- TORIO, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Washington, in

the Distrlct of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n charge of the projectile soon after impact of the said projectile, the said fuse having novel means for releasing the firing mechanism during the flight of the projectile and preventing action of the firing mechanism until impact of the shell or projectile, the said releasing means of the firing mechanism acting as a guard against movement of the firing mechanlsm while the projectile is being handled. A further object of this invention is to provide a fuse having novel means for carrying a charge of explosive, the said means for carrying the charge being positioned so thatxprior to impact, the shell will be located out .of a zone of danger with respect to the firing charge which is carried by the fuse, the first mentioned charge being intended to ignite the firing charge so that the firing charge will be sufficiently heavy to break the wall of the fuse and enter the chamber of the shell containing the main charge of the projectile.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means for holding the primary or booster charge and the detonating mechanism associated with the igniting means of the booster charge so that it will be stationary with relation to the fuse when the shell or projectile is being handled, the plunger which carries the booster charge being released by centrifugal force acting on the retaining means so that when the projectile is rotating in its flight, the plunger will be in position to operate with relation to the firing pins and fire the booster charge which in turn ignites the firing charge carried by the casing or plug, it being understood that the plug is retained against imdue forward motion by soft in which is eentaeted by plug and w. .iehevill. be

' Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 11 1913 Application filed: July 20, 1918. Serial in). 245,832.

sheared upon impact of the projectile to permit the plug to move forward.

A still further object of this invention is top'fOViCle novel means, for forming a compartment or holder for the firing charge in the forward end of the fuse body with re.- lation to which the plunger operates.

,I attain these and other objects by the mechanismillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 lllustrates a sectional view,

partlyin elevation of a fuse embodylng the invention; I

- Fig. 2 illustrates seotional viewrof the plunger;

Fig. 3 illustrates an end view of the plunger showing the shaft in section; V Fig. 4 illustrates a transverse sectional view of the plunger;

Fig. 5 "illustrates a view in elevation of the firing pins with .the shaft in section; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective view of one of the guards. f. Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views. r

In these drawings 10 denotes the fuse casing having a head 11 with seats of sockets 12 therein for the reception ofa spanner wrench which may be used for screwing the casing into a shell. f

The fuse casing is, .of course, externally threaded, as shown at 13, and it has a cylindrical bore for the reception of the plunger 14, the said plunger having a flanged head 15 which constitutes a guide and arresting means, as will presently appear. The plunger has radial slots or openings 16 in which springs 17 and 18 are seated and the inner ends of said springs lie in recesses 19 and 20 of weights 21 and 22 respectively, the said weights being pressed normally inward by the springs but being yieldably held so that when under the influence of centrifugal force they fly outwardly. The plunger has a longitudinally extending opening 23 to receive a shaft 24:,so that the plunger'oscillates'on the shaft. but the said shaft has an annular groove 25 into which the weights are seated .when in normal position, thereby holding the plunger against movement so purpose of the interlocking screw and shaft is to prevent rotation of the plunger which might occur, and if it did occur, it would impair the operation of the device, as will presently appear.

The plunger has radial openings 28 which communicate one with the other through channels such as 29 and the said radial openings contain an explosive charge which has been referred to as the booster charge for igniting the firing charge to be hereinafter further described. The plunger has seats 30 in its outer end adapted to contain a cap and these recesses each have a port or opening 31 which connects it with one of the radial openings so that the detonated caps will fire the charge in the radial openings.-

The sleeve 32 covers the plunger and holds the charges in the openings provided for that purpose. The plunger has a lug or projection '33 which enters a recess at the inner end of the bore of the casing, thus causing the plunger to take motion from the casing as the shell is revolved or rotated. The body of the casing has its end formed into a flange 34 with external threads 35 and the said flange has internal threads 36.

The inner end of the sleeve 32 is crimped or spun on the plunger and the said plunger has an annular groove37 constituting a seat for the anchorage of said sleeve. The shaft has a transversely disposed pin 38 which is of relatively soft material so that it will shear or give upon impact of the projectile since the velocity of the shell is such as to cause the plunger to break or cut the pin when the movement of the shell is arrested.

A housing 39 has a flange 40 provided with a groove 41 and the said housing has a longitudinally extending flange 42 which is threaded to engage the threads 36, and the end the flange 42 constitutes a shoulder or an abutment for the flange of the plunger, so that the movement of the plunger inwardly is limited, otherwise, the impact of the plunger with the end of the casing would rupture it and permit the force of the explosive charge to be spent so as to impair its utility as it is intended to detonate the firing charge which surrounds the housing.

As will be seen from an inspection of the drawing, the sleeve 32 rests on the interior of the flange 42 and is guided thereby in its movement forward and there is a space normally between the end of the flange 42 and the side of the flange 15 which constitutes an expansion chamber in which the force of the booster charge would be spent in case of accidental firing of that charge.

A. metallic band 43 has an end crimped or spun in the slot of the flange 40 and the said band 43 stands away from the housing so that there is an intervening space for the reception of the firing charge 44, the said band and the flange 34 being embraced by a cap45 which is threaded on the said flan 34, the said cap embracing the end of the housing and having a recess 46 for the reception of the slotted boss 47 which 1s on the housing and which is provided for the application of a wrench for threading the housing in the flange of the casing.

I To retain the explosive charge 44 in place and to provide yielding end walls for the explosive charge, washers 48 and 49, preferably of asbestos, are inserted'in the band at the ends thereof, so that the explosive charge is contained between the housing and the band and the asbestos washers.

N ear the outer end of the shaft, I provide a disk 50 in which the firing pins 51 are anchored, the said firing pins being equal in number to the deto nating caps carried by the plunger. 7

In the interest of reducing the weight of thedevice, the disk 50 is cut away or provided with apertures 52.

In the operation of the device, it will be apparent that the threads norm ally hold the plunger against movement and, therefore, the projectile may be handled without liability of premature explosion, but upon the projectile being fired, centrifugal force causes the weights to move radially until they are disengaged from the shaft. The plunger moves slightly longitudinally of the shaft by gravity and is advanced until it strikes the pin 38 and these relations of parts are maintained until there is an impact of the projectile when, owing to the arrested motion of the projectile and the unrestrained condition of the plunger except for the pin, the said plunger moves forward, shearing the pinand carrying the detonating caps into engagement with the firing pins and thereby causing the caps to explode. IVhen this occurs, the booster charge in the plunger is in line with the firing charge and the force of the explosion of the booster charge is sufficient to rupture the casing so that the detonating charge is fired with the result that the charge in the shell will likewise be fired. I prefer to reduce the thickness of the wall of the cap by forming slots 54 therein or, if preferred, the cap may be made of relatively light material without such weakening slots.

The flanged head 15 has a plurality of ports 53 which constitute a means of com munic ation between the chamber 54 and the space surrounding the plunger, so that if the charge in the plunger should explode accidentally, the spaces indicated would be su'flicient to permit the expansion of the gases without affecting the charge of explosive which is intended to rupture the fuse casing.

In applying the charge of explosive 28 in the several apertures, I find it convenient When one of the apertures is loaded to retain the charge in place by a disk of celluloid or the like 55 and then when the sleeve 32 is applied to the plunger, it engages the disks and retains the charge in place.

I claim- 1. In a fuse for projectiles, a fuse casing having a cylindrical bore threaded externally near the outer end, a cap threaded on the exterior of the casing, a housing having a longitudinally extending flange threaded in the housing and its end constituting a shoulder, said housing having a radially extending flange, a band secured to the radially extending flange and spaced apart from the housing to form a chamber for explosive, a shaft having a disk at one end provided with plungers, said disk being located in the housing and the said shaft extending longitudinally of the housing and the bore of the casing, a plunger slidable on the housing, said plunger having openings for the reception of explosive, and passages leading from the end of the plunger to said openings, the end of the plunger having recesses for caps in a-linement W1th the passages, a shoulder formed on the shaft, centrifugally operated means carried by the plunger and engaging the shoulder to hold the plunger against movement, and means carried by the plunger for communicating the rotatlon of the projectile to the plunger.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0'.

2. In a'fuse for projectiles, a fuse casing having a central bore, a plunger having a flange engaging the Wall of the bore, the said flange having apertures therethrough, said plunger having a diameter less than the diameter of the bore, a housing having a flange fitting into the said bore, a cap threaded on the end of the casing and embracing the housing, a radially extending flange on the housing, a cylindrical member Within the cap anchored on the said flange and spaced apart from the housing to form a chamber for explosives, firing pins supported in the housing, a shaft extending therefrom longitudinally of the housing to the bore of the casing, a shoulder on the shaft, said shaft having a slot and the said plunger having an aperture to receive the shaft, a member carried by the plunger engaging the slot of the shaft for guiding the plunger, detonating caps carried by the plunger adapted to be moved into engagement With the firing pin, said plunger having recesses therein for the reception of an explosive charge, and openings therefrom to the cap seats, centrifugally operated means for holding the plunger against movement on the shaft, and a shearable pin to engage the plunger to delay its movement upon impact of the projectile.

DOMINGO A.- PISTORIO.

Commissioner of Patents, 

